Top Gear just wrapped its relaunched season, but wherever it goes from here, it will go without Chris Evans. The embattled and much-criticized host confirmed on Twitter today that he is stepping down from the show after just six episodes.

In two tweets, Evans emphasized that he gave the show his best shot, and departed with a classy message to the crew and the rest of the team. He also said he’ll continue on with his radio show and other car-related ventures.

Things have gone from bad to extremely worse for Chris Evans, who announced his resignation from Top Gear earlier today. That resignation came mere hours after London police confirmed Evans is being investigated for a reported sexual assault dating back to the 1990s.

The UK’s Telegraph says London Metropolitan Police confirmed a woman made a report to officers on May 23, days before Top Gear returned to the air, about a “non-recent sexual assault” related to “incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s.”

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Also from that story, Evans apparently joked about exposing himself:

In an interview with the Sunday Times in 2005, Evans admitted his penchant for exposing himself at work.

The newspaper reported that Evans “frequently exposed himself at the offices of Ginger Media Group, which owned Virgin Radio and television shows such as TFI Friday. He would interrupt meetings by standing up to pull down his tracksuit bottoms to reveal that he was sexually aroused.”

At the time, Evans told the newspaper: “If you get your willy out, it’s the funniest thing in the world. Everybody laughs, everyone of our generation. I wouldn’t do it in front of my mum, for example. Girls love it; boys -‘Oh, I can’t believe you did that’. It also takes the night to a new level. I actually haven’t done it for a while. But I will do it again.”

[–]Stackson212 116 points 5 hours ago*
The problem is that both with the US show and the UK reboot, Top Gear tried to recapture the style of previous Top Gear without the substance.
For one thing, Clarkson, Hammond and May were all automotive journalists for years and years prior to joining Top Gear. They not only had exhaustive knowledge about multiple generations of cars, but they were writers and had the ability to express that knowledge with a writer's insight into clever language. The fact that they were funny was a bonus. Replacing people who had real automotive journalism background with actors, or comedians, or high-profile car enthusiasts, is choosing the sizzle over the steak.
For another, Clarkson, Hammond, and May all had real chemistry with each other. They were all real friends before the show, and genuinely enjoyed each others' humor. We liked watching them interact because all of their banter was earned. Trying to throw random people together and expect them to banter in exactly the same way those three did is going to lead to a lot of cringe-worthy and stilted interaction.
Finally, you can't have three new people doing the old Top Gear bits. The Clarkson/Hammond/May Top Gear started out as more of a straight car program and then evolved into the flashier, funnier, more staged program we see today (no judgment - I like both the early and late versions). But the more outrageous stuff and running jokes developed over time. Again, that felt more earned. Bringing in three people to recite other peoples' jokes feels stilted and wrong.
So given all this, what should BBC have done? Honestly, I'm not sure. They captured lightning in a bottle with the Clarkson/Hammond/May, but even then the show developed over a decade plus. The best way in my opinion to get a really great show is to hire three people who really, really know cars (aren't just famous people who like cars), who are great at expressing themselves (not just "actor" or "comedian"), and let them create their own format. Hopefully it's funny, and hopefully they create their own great chemistry, and hopefully it becomes a cultural sensation like Clarkson/Hammond/May, but you have to be patient and let it grow and develop into its own thing. If you get the right people, maybe it is very different from Clarkson/Hammond/May but is successful in its own right. But this sort of patience is probably too much to ask when you have a golden goose on your hands.